Rise & Shine

Cell phone alarms started buzzing, chirping, and dinging at approximately 7:30 Saturday morning, making sure no one overslept from the seemingly never ending activities of the previous day. There had been a lot going on Friday, but there was still lots to do Saturday morning in order to be ready for the rest of the day's events. Half and full days of kayak fishing was on the agenda and there was little time to waste. Everyone slowly awoke and did the Zombie Shuffle to either the bathroom or the kitchen - whichever was their personal priority. Alice started brewing a fresh pot of coffee while Delores popped blueberry scones in the oven. The next hour was spent debating about what time to be at the launch site and how much time they would have to get their lunches made and gear packed up. The four FWC guides would be there at 9:00 a.m. and had already announced that they expected all kayak fishing participants to be on the water and ready to paddle out no later than 10:00 a.m. All of these plans were subject to the whims of Tropical Storm Karen, though, she would have the final say on the matter so everyone checked her status on an hourly basis. By 9:00 the NCLA gang had once again formed a convoy to Airport Beach, which incidentally, can't be found on any website or Google map. This particular plot of 'beach' is called Airport Beach by the locals only so getting its coordinates punched in on a GPS device was a bit tricky and time consuming (but not impossible). It would be interesting to see how many non-locals would be able to navigate to it.Once they arrived, they formed a single parallel line off the side of the road and parked that way. Then they all got out of their vehicles and began to unload their own gear and help one another unload as well. They had been the first to arrive and planned it that way. This way, they had plenty of time and elbow room to haul their yaks to the water and gear them up for a day of fishing. This kayak fishing event was the main reason that they had signed up for this Paddle Festival in the first place. Let's see: Cedar Key / kayak fishing / girl's weekend / new friends.....how could anyone turn down an opportunity like that? This particular Saturday event, however, was reserved only for those who had attended the Kayak Fishing Demonstration that Rebecca from the FWC had hosted the previous evening. If you didn't attend that, you couldn't kayak fish with the rest of the folks. This was an opportunity to practice some new skills with an FWC guide there to help if needed. There were four FWC guides in all, Darin, Jennifer, Rebecca, and Tara. They had brought gear to loan out for anyone who was completely new to the sport but most everyone brought their own. Live shrimp was about the only thing that the NCLA women needed and the guides would be providing that, too. It was just a matter of waiting for them to arrive at this point.

All four guides arrived at about 9:15 and began to unload their own gear and assisting everyone else who needed help with the unloading process too. Alice had the heaviest kayak of all. It weighs over 100 lbs and is typically launched at a regular concrete boat ramp and since there was no access to that at Airport Beach, she needed to take extra care in getting it to the water because it would have to be carried for about 30 yards or so. Darin was the strongest of the bunch so he and Alice got her yak to the water with minimal effort. Once everyone's kayak was outfitted for a day of fishing, Darin began to ration out live shrimp to those who requested some.

Not sure what they're waiting for....

Darin is handing out blue buckets with a dozen shrimp for each person...that's for starters...

By 9:45 all of the kayaks had been unloaded, geared up, and supplied with shrimp. The only thing missing were the paddlers. Those who had signed up, attended the kayak demo the evening before and were lucky enough to find the launch site were now gathered in a huddle around Jennifer as she gave final instructions and handed out one more safety waiver for everyone to sign. Dot mumbled under her breath a question about why yet another waiver needed to be signed and then after signing it and turning it in, she turned around and almost poked herself in the eye with the tip of her fishing rod. "That's why!", Jennifer said with a smile.The larger group of seven were divided into two smaller groups of three and four. Those who were fairly new to the sport and wanted to stay closer to shore would have Jennifer and Rebecca as guides.Then, those who were a little more adventurous and wanted to paddle out to more productive waters would follow Darin and Tara. Once that issue was settled....off they went....